Bazoum takes the lead in Niger presidential runoff: electoral commission
Although the counting continues in three of Niger’s seven regions, the country’s Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) latest tally shows Mohamed Bazoom in the lead against his contender Mahamane Ousmane in the runoff for the top job.
Issued on:
According the latest statistics shown by the CENI, former interior minister Bazoom leads with a total of 2.4 million votes, while contender and ex- president Ousmane has received 1.9 million votes. A total of 259 out of 266 districts have been counted.
Mohamed Bazoum leads vote count for #Niger's election with 2m votes vs Mahamane Ousmane taking 1.4m ballots, 210 of 266 constituencies counted: https://t.co/5borwecNad
— Daniel Finnan (@Daniel_Finnan) February 23, 2021
Sunday unrest
Although observers predicted that the Sunday polls would run smoothly, seven members of the CENI were killed when their vehicle hit a mine in Dargol town, which is near the three borders of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali.
Officials shut down voting in a number of offices in the area after the killing.
“This is the time that lawless men choose to sow desolation,” Niger's Interior Minister Alkache Alhada told journalists after the killing.
"What they are looking for is to create situations of horror and we will not accept this country as a medieval dictatorship, because that is their goal,” he said, adding that apart from this incident, the rest of the elections took place under good security conditions.
Other incidents reported by the OPELE, the Observatory of Electoral Process, included the distribution of fake ballots in Dosso and Agadez regions, and hijacked vehicles in the Bankilaré region.
In the Niamey polling stations, voters seemed more numerous in the morning but less in the afternoon, according to RFI correspondent Magali Lagrange.
Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning
Subscribe